Dreamgirls Leia

Character: Princess Leia
Costume: Sparkly diva senatorial robes!
From: Star Wars by way of Dreamgirls
Made: 2007
Awards: Part of a skit that won a Lucasfilm company award (2007 San Diego Comic-Con Masquerade)

I made this costume for our 2007 Comic-Con Masquerade skit, "Rebel Dreams," a Star Wars/Dreamgirls mashup. (Lots more pictures, plus video, are available on that page!)

We had quite a lot of discussion on how to best Dreamgirl-ize the Leia costume. At first we thought of doing three different Leias, one from each movie, but then decided it would work better if we all did the same outfit, and of course Senatorial Leia is the most recognizable. Gentle Giant has a cool animated Leia maquette that provided some good inspiration, but we worried that the sleeves might not work with the choreography, so Kel and Corli came up with the halter-top-and-gloves idea. We each "claimed" a different Dreamgirl-- I was Deena, by virtue of being the shortest!

San Diego Comic-Con 2007
(thanks to grimreaper4u, Kel and Corli, red_tzar, and Eurobeat King for the pics!)

Dragon*Con 2007

(thanks to Michelle and Kathy for the pics!)

Construction

Masquerade: Rebel Dreams

Entry Title: Rebel Dreams
Fandom: Star Wars/Dreamgirls mashup
Convention: San Diego Comic-Con 2007
Awards: Lucasfilm company award (a giant R2-D2 drink cooler)
Cast Members: Caitlin, Corli, and Kel (the Leias), Rogue (Han Thunder Solo)

We were brainstorming for the Comic-Con 2007 Masquerade via email, and Kel and Cordelia said, "Hey, we've got three girls and a guy, so what about Star Wars Dreamgirls?" I replied with "Spangles on the Leia dresses and sequined bloodstrips on Han's pants?" and we were off and running. Cordelia whipped up a parody medley, we all recorded our parts, and I endlessly rewatched the movie to learn the choreography and teach it to the others. We had a great time with it, and we were very excited to win an industry award from Lucasfilm!

Performance and Photostage Pictures courtesy of rickpickett and insearchofheroes.com:

Lyrics

Senatorial Leia

Character: Princess Leia
Costume: Senatorial Robes
From: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Made: 2005

Ah, the iconic Leia dress, the one costume any casual fan would recognize. I made this dress to wear as Leia in Star Wars: Musical Edition at Star Wars Celebration III. Although the material is heavier than I would have liked, I'm very happy with how the dress turned out. This dress was auctioned off for charity during GenCon 2006, and now my friend Jennifer owns it!

Star Wars: Musical Edition at Celebration III
(thanks to Rosamunde and Steve for the pics!)

Construction

Ceremonial Leia

Character: Princess Leia
Costume: Ceremonial Gown
From: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Completed: 2004

I made this dress at the request of some friends from the Star Wars fan group I belong to. We had a silly Olympics-type event at our annual convention, and they wanted to have closing ceremonies where the top three finishers were honored, with Leia giving medals to the top two-- just like A New Hope! *g* Since I whipped this gown up quickly just before the con, it's not accurate, but it's recognizable, which was really all we needed. I wore it again when I played Princess Leia in Star Wars: Musical Edition, which was performed at Celebration III in 2005. I later sold the gown on Ebay.

GenCon Indy, 2004

(thanks to Brian and Sithspit for the pics!)

Star Wars: Musical Edition at Celebration III, 2005
(thanks to Steve and Rosamunde for the pics!)